The Crucible Campaign

7: Noob Squad

.^^ 'Sandy' ^^

— Cassidy —

Walking back toward the Mage's Circle as if we hadn't just met our grandmother years after her funeral, was a weird experience.

More than waking up in a new body, new world, new everything; meeting people you thought were dead, and facing the reality that this might very well be the afterlife, which begs the thought that they were all dead.

I paused. "Oh, shit..."

"What's wrong?" Father asked.

"If we're dead, does that mean that our aunt is going to be haunted by the message we sent her?" I asked.

He snorted, and shook his head. "We're not dead, my dear, and even if we were, the message was a piece of parchment, how can you be haunted by-" he stopped, and hummed.

"See? Told you. Think about it..." I chuckled.

He shook his head, and turned me around, so I was against his back. Two people blocked that end of the alley, and from his body posture, two more were likely on the other side.

I drew the dagger I'd been handed by Renata, and it liquified, almost, turning to a shape more familiar to me; a heavily field-tested, military issue Ka-Bar. It then ignited, and the two individuals drew wicked-sharp blades.

A lithe figure slipped between them, though they didn't react, like they couldn't see her, and then her tall white staff whipped in a glowing arch, slamming both of them against the wall.

She waved, and gestured the way she'd come. 'This Way.' Her voice whispered through my head like sand in an hourglass.

I frowned, and kept an eye on her, nudging father. "This end is... somewhat clear."

"Your mother has this end. I'm keeping my eyes up. If your end is clear, you do that too. These buildings are short enough to climb." He growled.

I grinned and grabbed him, leaping against the walls and making my way up to the roof, surprising two more hooded individuals. I dropped father, and then simply punched both of them as hard as I could, knocking them out.

'A little inelegant, but it'll do, I suppose...' the woman appeared next to me.

I flinched, and whipped a foot towards her, only for it to crash into a wall of sand, and the impact was absorbed by the nature of the element it was made of. "What are you?" I growled.

'At the moment, an earth Elemental. You might know me as a 'Sand Demon'. I am a friend to the Taggen's. I was sent to fetch you, by Renata and Gladrinon and Thomas Skøll.' She answered casually, apparently having taken no insult from my attacking her.

I tried to yank my foot away, and found myself stuck. "Alright... can I have my foot back?"

'If you do not attack me again, I don't see why not.' She shrugged gently, and my foot dislodged.

Mother steadied me, and then looked to the side as the two remaining people mounted the roof next to us. "Well, they're stubborn, I'll give them that..." she murmured.

'They are being controlled. They have no capacity for free will or fear. So yes... one could say they are stubborn.' The sand demon whispered sarcastically.

I sighed, and sheathed the knife at my waist. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't hurt them too badly." When the one who had climbed up next to me leapt forward, I slammed my foot into his gut, sending him back over the edge, to crash into the ground about twenty-five feet down.